Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story by Anne Rice & Ashley Witter

Genre: graphic novel
Pages: 256 (hardcover)
Published: November 2012 by Yen Press

Synopsis: A richly-illustrated adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, told through the eyes of the vampire Claudia, who was just a little girl when she was turned by the vampire Lestat. Though she spends many years of happiness with her two vampire fathers, she gradually grows discontent with their insistence upon treating her like a little girl, even though she has lived as long as any mortal man...and her lust to kill is certainly no less than theirs...

My Take:
I had to have this beautiful graphic novel.  Firstly, because Interview with the Vampire is one of my all-time favorite books and Anne Rice has been one of my favorite authors since I was a pre-teen.  Second, just look at that gorgeous cover!  I had serious cover lust over Claudia's Story, and the pages between the covers are no less beautiful or intriguing.

The art is beyond gorgeous: every illustration is perfectly shaded, with splashes of carefully-placed crimson which perfectly compliment the story's dark feel.  The three main characters-- the doll-like Claudia, sensitive, dark-haired Louis, and of course, the arresting and impulse Lestat-- are portrayed as very similar to their characters in the movie Interview with the Vampire.  Some of the illustrations are gorgeous enough to frame and artist Ashley Marie Witter definitely proves that she's a fantastically-talented artist in this graphic novel, her debut.

Claudia's Story essentially follows the exact same storyline as Interview with the Vampire, examining the conflict and dynamic between Claudia and Louis and Lestat, her two vampiric "fathers", to whom she must cling because she is an eternal little girl and cannot care for herself.  As Claudia, a vampire created as a child, grows mentally and emotionally older, she begins to resent her fellow vampires for creating her, for trapping her inside a child's "doll-like" body forever.  She has no hope of gaining independence, of fulfilling her terrible blood lust on her own, or of becoming the woman she became long ago in her heart and mind. 

Many direct quotes from Interview are used in Claudia's Story, along with some of Claudia's internal monologue, written in the slightly melancholy narrative style typical of Louis's monologue style in Interview.  I don't feel like we readers learn very much about Claudia's character, or a single new thing about the plot, that was not revealed in the original novel.  I didn't really mind, though.  This graphic novel is entertaining and faithful to the original Anne Rice canon.  The art, as I said, is beyond belief.  Anything Ashley Marie Witter illustrates in the future, I will almost certainly be reading.  I really hope this book sells a ton of copies-- at least as many as the Twilight graphic novels have, especially considering that the art of Claudia's Story is about ten times more mature and well-drawn.  And, you know, Claudia and Louis and Lestat do a very minimal amount of sparkling.

Rating:

Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker by Syrie James

Genre: historical romance
Pages: 457 (paperback)
Published: 2010 by Avon A
Recommended for: fans of Dracula and historical or paranormal romance

My Take:

Mina Harker was a chaste and noble young Victorian woman who was brutally victimized by the evil Count Dracula.  Or so Stoker's classic vampire novel Dracula has always led us to believe.  Dracula, My Love reveals in flowing and expert prose the story of a very different Mina, one whom found herself romantically torn between her well-meaning husband, Johnathan, and of all people, the very ancient monstrosity who terrorized and maybe even murdered so many of the people she loved.

Yep, more Dracula fanfiction!  I started this book very curious as to how Ms. James was going to convince us readers that Mina Harker's relationship with Dracula was not in fact one of victimization and helpless fear, but of love.  I figured the author would have to somehow deviate a long way from the original Dracula in order to present her case... happily, I could not have been more wrong.  In this first-person narrative, Mina is thrilled to spend time at the charming coastal town of Whitby with her best friend, Lucy Westenra.  While exploring the seaside town after a storm, Mina and Lucy are as disturbed as the locals to learn that a ship without a crew has wrecked on the rocky coast.  The only survivor: an enormous black dog which was sighted leaving the wreck.  Mina becomes distraught when she learns that her beloved fiance Johnathan has been detained at Castle Dracula in faraway Transylvania and the return of Lucy's bizarre sleepwalking habits do nothing to ease her growing sense of anxiety and foreboding, especially after Mina follows her friend one night only to glimpse a tall, cloaked figure leaning over Lucy as if to bite her neck.

Mina is able to forget her fears only when she is in the companion of a charming foreigner from Eastern Europe who is looking to make England his new home.  Mr. Wagner is handsome, cultured, and wealthy, and he seems to enjoy Mina's company as much-- if not more-- than she does his. To Mina, he seems the perfect gentleman, the perfect catch, even.  Though she consistently strives to remember herself that she is engaged to Johnathan, she cannot help but feel intensely attracted and fascinated by this enigmatic stranger who speaks of history as though he experienced it first-hand.  Once Mina discovers the truth and horrible fates begin to befall her friends, she quickly back-pedals, swearing to see an end to this horrid and unholy Count Dracula along with Van Helsing and his companions.  Yet Mina finds herself unable to resist the allure of the Count, especially when it seems he may in fact not be the terrible monster he has been painted as by so many others.

This is a fantastic novel from start to finish, though the last half had me flipping pages almost too quickly, desperate to find out that fates of these characters whose fates I'd thought I already knew.  That must be the mark of a great re-telling, and so Dracula, My Love most certainly is that.  The way Dracula's apparently malevolent actions are explained is really well-done and convincing.  I love how the book doesn't tie every loose end up, but instead leaves just enough unexplained after its shocking and stirring ending to make readers wonder. 

Cover: 5/5
Premise: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 5/5
Overall Rating:

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

Genre: fantasy/ alternate history
Pages: 547 (paperback)
Published: first published 1992; republished 2011 by Titan
Recommended for: fans of steampunk and those familiar with the original Dracula


Synopsis: 
It is 1888; Dracula has married Queen Victoria and turned a large percentage of the population into the undead.

Following vampire Geneviève Dieudonné and explorer Charles Beauregard on the trail of the Ripper murders, this panoramic novel of altered history brilliantly reinvents the world of late Victorian melodrama.

Familiar and sinister figures from literature and history emerge from the fog, along with some shocking truths.

My Take: 

So... I'm kind of a Dracula fanatic.  As a kid who didn't typically like those "classic" books, Dracula was one I fell in love with at a young age.  Bram Stoker's tale is spectacularly chilling, and there really is no book which can quite compare to it.  Anno Dracula had been on my to-read list for years, but it was out of print until recently.  I rejoice, as all fans of horror, steampunk, fantasy, and vampires should, that it is back and emblazoned with this sweet newsprint cover!  

Until recently, I was positive that The Historian by Elizabeth Kostava was the last word in Dracula 'fanfiction' novels.  This book rather blew The Historian out of the water, though, as far as the fun factor goes.  This novel is a long one, but it is far from slow and literary.  Anno Dracula is a caper of Jack the Ripper, set in an alternate past where Dracula escaped the stakes of Van Helsing and his associates to marry Queen Victoria and become prince and overlord of all England.  He and his force of undead loyalists have transformed half of London into vampires, creating a diseased, mad bloodline of newborn vampires.  Dracula himself does not make an appearance until the book's grand, long-awaited finale, but when he does... Wow, has Newman written a heck of a Dracula!  

The story is fast-paced with short cliff-hangers of chapters, and this London is one where famous figures of history and literature run amok (and undead) over the pages.  I particularly loved the Jekyll and Hyde references.  Perhaps the best part is that, though our hero and heroine spend the book searching for the Ripper in between dodging malevolent vamps and unsavory fiances, we the readers know exactly who the Ripper is and we get an insider's perspective as to his righteous motives... and madness.  Genevieve, an ancient, yet youthful-in-appearance vampire of a line older than even Dracula's, is a fantastic heroine-- definitely my favorite character. 

 There is a fair amount of gore in the book, I guess, but none of it is very bothersome unless you're just really not into that sort of thing.  Overall, I thought Anno Dracula was a fantastic read: brilliant, hilarious, bloody, oddly historical, and utterly engaging.  Just make sure you know the basic story of the original Dracula first.  This is a book I most certainly will be rereading within a year, no matter how my tbr pile threatens to topple over.  

Overall Rating: 5/5    

Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Genre: YA fantasy
Pages: 489 (paperback)
Published: 2010 by RazorBill/ Penguin
Recommended for: those who, like me, enjoy the Vampire Academy series
SPOILER ALERT: This review contains mild spoilers from the first four books in the VA series.

My Take:

Dhampir Rose Hathaway has (narrowly) survived her escapades in Russia, where she endeavored to track down Dimitri, her former lover turned Strigoi-- those are the 'bad', nasty, immoral, super-strong corrupt vampires, for those who are new to the series.  Now Rose is faced with the series of infamously difficult trials which will grant her status as an official Guardian-- protector of the aristocratic Moroi vampires-- at last.  After having staked dozens of Strigoi in Russia and during the siege of St Vladimir's, these final exams aren't much of a challenge for Rose's mad skills.  But the fact that Dimitri seems to have followed her to the High Moroi Court might well be her undoing, because this time Dimitri doesn't have an eternal partnership with Rose on the brain... more like he wants to savor killing her before any number of Rose's newfound enemies can perform the deed themselves.

Rose knows she can't evade Dimitri forever-- her only options are to stake the love of her life, or else somehow, find a way to do what everyone says is impossible and restore a Strigoi to life.  Rose's BFF and powerful spirit user, Dragomir Princess Lissa,  thinks she knows someone who might know the secret to saving Strigoi: Victor Dashkov, the mentally unstable and conniving Moroi whom Lissa once adored for his charisma... before Victor's torture of her and betrayal of his own daughter landed him a cell in a secluded Alaskan prison.  Rose and the gang are forced to plan a high-security jail break, one whose consequences could be devastating if the truth ever got out...

And that's not even half of their problems!  I feel sorry for whoever has to blurb the Vampire Academy series-- those short summaries can become quite extensive due to all the complex characters and relationships.  Not to mention all of those subplots!  I really enjoyed this fifth installment in the Vampire Academy series, though not as much as Blood Promise.  Once again the book was impossible to put down and the action never stalled, though I do have a few complaints this time around.  Everything, from the jail break to the Guardian trials, felt a bit too easy-- I never really felt like Rose was in any danger of failing.  Even the scenes with Dimitri lacked the sheer intensity of the previous books; his character as a Strigoi seemed a little inconsistent to me as well, though I guess he was probably pretty sick of trying to convince Rose to 'join him on the Dark Side' and just wanted to slit her throat and get her out of the way.

Not that this book was really about Rose and Dimitri (you know, the kick-ass couple who were the main draw of the series?)  I'm half-convinced the guy Rose is snogging on the front cover must be Adrian, because, man, do they do a lot of snogging in this installment.  I've actually half-heartedly switched to Team Adrian, mainly because I think he deserves a chance with her after everything he's done to help her and Lissa.  But I'm not so hopeful as to think that Adrian and Rose will actually, ultimately end up together after all the extensive trouble she's gone through to save Dimitri's soul and whatnot.  I like Adrian, though: he's the ultimate bum-ish boyfriend who never does anything (except, okay, loan out his money and walk around in Rose's dreams wearing a bathrobe), yet we somehow knew from the start that he has a heart of gold.  The ending of this book absolutely (though not literally, obviously ;) killed me-- I didn't see it coming at all, and would have read Spirit Bound if only for its shocker of an ending.  All in all, a pretty good book, but definitely not the strongest of the series.

Cover: 3/5 (I hate carrying around covers with people kissing on them-- it's awkward when people ask you what you're reading)

Premise: 5/5

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4/5 

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Genre: YA fantasy, vampire
Pages: 503 (paperback)
Published: 2009 by Razorbill
Recommended for: people who've read the previous Vampire Academy books

Synopsis: Dimitri's heart has gone dark.

Now Rose must journey to the ends of the earth to find--and kill--her one true love...
Or has the time come to join him?
Bound by love, but sworn to kill... Guardian Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same.

The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

My Take:

I'm very much in love with this book right now.  I finished Shadow Kissed, the third book in the VA series, a few months ago and doubted I would go on to read the next one.  Then all the Last Sacrifice hype exploded onto the blogosphere, and I started thinking 'Wow, the last three books must be better'.  Good thing I decided to give the series another shot.  

Blood Promise begins with dhampir Rose Hathaway traveling to Russia to find her love Dimitri... and kill him.  Dimitri's Strigoi (Dracula-esque, evil, undead vamps) now, and Rose has no idea where to start her search.  I'm all for no spoilers, but she pretty much treks across Russia in her search for Dimitri, all the while fretting about Lissa, her best friend who she left alone and unguarded back at St. Vladimir's Academy.  Rose ends up in Dimitri's hometown searching for clues, and while she doesn't find the man himself, she does find his family. 

The thing that sets the Vampire Academy series apart from all the other vampire books out there is the complexity of the vamps' secret world and culture.  In this fourth book, Richelle Mead shows us the dark side of dhampir life, as well as the positive angle to Strigoi existence (since they're not really living ;)  ).  I knew and everybody else, I'm sure, also knew from just reading the summary that eventaully Rose would have to run into Dimitri and he'd pull a Darth Vader and be all 'Join me, Roza, on the Dark Side, live forever.'  But I was surprised to find that I actually kind of bought into all the good parts of becoming Strigoi.  I mean-- live forever, eternal youth, awesome reflexes, a love that lasts forever?  And becoming Strigoi is the only way that, at this point, Rose can possibly be with Dimitri.  I'm sure Richelle Mead's got some huge deus ex machina in the last two books that I haven't read, but as of now, I really felt Rose's sorrow at losing Dimitri and fear and determination at the possibility of having to kill him.  Rose is such an awesome MC-- she's strong and opinionated, and she makes me laugh or cheer for her-- never groan and sling the books across the room because of some stupid mistake.

I've read a lot of reviews from people who say this is just a 'filler book', and yeah, I'm going to have to agree somewhat.  I didn't feel like there was any drastic change from the beginning to the end, or any one event that absolutely had to happen.  And, yes, a lot of the new characters in Russia are people we may or may not ever meet again in the series, but truthfully, Blood Promise is just a really fun, enjoyable book.  It's not a jaw-dropping, revelation-a-page series installment like Catching Fire or a thought-provoking dystopian, but it's definitely worth the read.  There is one revelation towards the end that really made me smile and a couple of moments where I was literally tearing through the pages, hell-bent on finding out how in the world Rose would make it out alive.  The 500 pages flew by for me, making this a very addictive read.  I can't wait to get my hands on Spirit Bound!

Cover: 4/5
Premise: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Burned by PC and Kristin Cast

Genre: YA paranormal
Pages: 323
Published: May 2010
(#7 in the House of Night series)
Recommended for: House of Night and vamp fans

(from Goodreads):  Zoey Redbird is the youngest High Priestess in House of Night history and is the only person – vamp or fledgling – that can stop the evil Neferet from raising all kinds of immortal trouble. And she might just have a chance if she wasn’t so busy being dead.

Well, dead is too strong a word. Stevie Rae knows she can bring her bff back from her unscheduled va-cay in the Otherworld. But it’s going to take a lot more than hoping to bring Zoey back. Stevie Rae will have to give up a few secrets of her own ... 

My Take: 

Hmm, I remember saying that I'd sworn off vampire books for a while.  Yet here I am, reviewing the House of Night and seriously considering taking Parajunkee's Vampire Challenge.  Ah, hell. :)   Anyway, Burned is the seventh book in the House of Night series, so most authors would be wrapping it up by now.  Not so the Casts.  I've actually heard that they're speculating that there might be fifteen House of Night books before it's all said and done.  That said, I really do enjoy reading the series and clearly they're still going strong in the popularity department.  


Burned started out with all the characters basically reacting to the events of the last book, by which I mean Zoey's soul shattering.  (I'll say no more than the summary does, I have a strict no-spoilers policy.)  The first 100 pages everybody is sort of running around accusing each other of things and informing each other of things we already know.  I wasn't ready to give up on the book, exactly, but I was definitely a little exasperated.  

Then, shortly after the 100 page mark, the book takes off.  This is the first book of the series which isn't told entirely from Zoey's point of view and it's a good thing, since Zoey isn't actually involved in a lot of the action.  This book, I think, belongs to Stevie Rae, and not just because she's on the cover.  I love the way her relationships with her boyfriend Dallas and the fallen Raven Mocker, Rephaim, evolve and the way she realizes her power as a High Priestess.  Aphrodite isn't quite her usual witchy self, but luckily she hasn't reformed beyond the point of being one of the best characters.  I did miss the 'Nerd Herd' (READ: Shaunee, Erin, Jack, and especially Damien) hanging out with Zoey and their random conversations, but I can see how it would be hard to fit them in given the constant revelations and climax scenes surrounding Stevie Rae and Stark, who is guarding Zoey's body now minus her spirit.  Stark is my favorite of Zoey's guys by far (though I like Kalona, does Kalona count?), and he definitely has to make a lot of sacrifices for her in this latest book.  The scenes I disliked most were the ones with Zoey and Heath in Nyx's realm, simply because I really can't stand Heath. (Sorry)  


All in all though, I really enjoyed reading this one and liked the way everything turned out.  My only real qualm is that I miss the House of Night.  You know, the vampire school the series is named for?  I just missed the setting of that really cool nocturnal school, and I especially missed Nala and the Nerd Herd's cats. 

Cover: 4/5 

Premise: 5/5 

Plot: 3/5 

Characters: 4/5 

Overall: 4/5

 

The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks

Genre: YA fantasy
Page Count: 362
Released: 2009 by Houghton Mifflin
Recommended for: anyone looking for a fresh, funny twist on vampires

(from Goodreads):
Think vampires are romantic, sexy, and powerful? Think again. Vampires are dead. And unless they want to end up staked, they have to give up fanging people, admit their addiction, join a support group, and reform themselves.
Nina Harrison, fanged at fifteen and still living with her mother, hates the Reformed Vampire Support Group meetings every Tuesday night. Ev...moreThink vampires are romantic, sexy, and powerful? Think again. Vampires are dead. And unless they want to end up staked, they have to give up fanging people, admit their addiction, join a support group, and reform themselves.

Nina Harrison, fanged at fifteen and still living with her mother, hates the Reformed Vampire Support Group meetings every Tuesday night. Even if she does appreciate Dave, who was in a punk band when he was alive, nothing exciting ever happens. That is, until one of group members is mysteriously destroyed by a silver bullet. With Nina (determined to prove that vamps aren't useless or weak) and Dave (secretly in love with Nina) at the helm, the misfit vampires soon band together to track down the hunter, save a werewolf, and keep the world safe from the likes of themselves.
The perfect antidote to slick vampire novels, this murder-mystery comedy of errors will thrill fans of Evil Genius. 


My Take: 


Vampires, bloody and seductive and batty and immortal and sparkly as they may be, are long overdue for a dose of reality.  I present it to you in the form of The Reformed Vampire Support Group. 

In Nina's world, vampires are to tall, dark, and dangerous vamps as stained bedsheets are to ghosts.  The colorful characters of her Support Group include Horace (a real wannabe-vamp who goes around dressed like Spike from Buffy), Dave (fanged after a gig at a local bar), Bridget (the nicest old lady in the world who spends far more time peacefully knitting than careening around in the form of a bat), and Father Ramon, their resident support group adviser/ Catholic priest.  Nina herself lives with her (seventy-plus-year-old, ex-bartender) mother and spends her waking nights churning out vampire fantasies on her laptop exactly like those devoured by paranormal readers.  She can't go out during the day without wearing hardcore sunglasses and her version of a night out on the town is carpooling to the weekly Support Group meeting.  

The existence of vampires is a complete secret, granted that there's always at least one psycho wannabe-vampire-hunter on the loose, and Nina and her fellow vamps are by no means up to protecting themselves from anything more threatening than, say, a bunny rabbit.  They survive, not on human blood, but on the blood of hamsters which they raise themselves.  Mildly disgusting, yes, but the book never gets too graphic concerning the poor little rodents. Fifty-plus years is a long time to be dead, so when a member of the Support Group is mysteriously dusted (none-Buffy-addicts READ: killed), the gang set out to discover the murderer before one of them ends up being next. What ensues is a murder mystery which is really more of a series of hilarious, unfortunate coincidences and misconceptions.  And yes, werewolves are included, which only adds to the feel of (an intelligent) Twilight parody.  I recommend this smart, funny yarn of 'real-life' vampires to both vampire addicts and those readers who are really kind of exhausted with the whole craze.  I'm reading the sequel, The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group now, and haven't gotten very far, but so far, so freaking hilarious.  


My Rating: 4/5